Musical instruments having strings which are plucked with the fingertips or fingernails have been in use since ancient times. When the fingertips are used for plucking, severe discomfort to the player often results in that the fingers become sore and tender, and sometimes blisters even occur. Similarly, when the fingernails are employed for plucking, they wear down quickly and frequently crack, chip, split or break, all of which requires a considerable length of time for regeneration for the average player. The advent of steel strings has aggravated these problems. Because of these troubles associated with use of the natural fingertips or fingernails for plucking, picks to serve as substitutes for the human fingertips and fingernails were long ago devised.
Two principal kinds of picks evolved. One is a type which is grasped between the player's fingers, and the other is a type which is worn directly on the end of a player's fingers. It is this latter type with which the present invention is concerned.
Many varieties of finger-worn picks have been devised, and a large number have been patented. In fact, inventors have been patenting finger-worn picks in the United States for well over one hundred years in an attempt to achieve a pick which will retain the basic sound and natural feel of the human fingertip or fingernail. However, in all that time no completely satisfactory finger-worn pick has been developed.
There are numerous requirements which must be met to achieve a completely satisfactory finger-worn pick. In particular, such pick must have good sensitivity and natural feel, must be easy for the player to attach to the finger and equally easy to remove, must have positive and facile lengthwise alignment and positioning on the finger, must stay in place even under conditions of forceful play, and must be capable of allowing both upstroke and downstroke picking. In addition, the pick must be durable, composed of few parts, comfortable to the wearer and cause minimal distraction to the player.
Although, as mentioned previously, many designs and varieties of finger-worn picks exist in the prior art, none has fulfilled all of the above-mentioned requirements. Indeed, judging by the models currently on the market, no finger-worn pick exists which comes close to meeting those requirements. Hence, there has been a long-felt need to attain a finger-worn pick for plucking the strings of stringed musical instruments which meets all of the foregoing requirements and at the same time is economical both from a manufacturing standpoint and a purchasing standpoint.